Carry Me
by WrappedInNight
Summary: Dean left Ben and Lisa seventeen years ago. With Lisa's memories gone, Ben was the only one left to remember Dean...and the only one left to tell Deans daughter about him. Elizabeth, who was born with a lame leg, has never met her father. So when her brother disappears one day after their mother dies, Eli leaves the safety of home to go find him. Without her brother, and with the
1. Chapter 1

Ben had told Eli stories about Dad, and how he dealt with demons and other monsters all the time.

He also told her about how Dad had left before she was born, not knowing Mom was pregnant before he disappeared. Ben told her lots of things about Dad, using his life as bedtime stories to lull her to sleep when her nightmares kept her up.

But there were rules when talking about Dad.

First, no talking about Dad around Mom; she didn't remember him. Ben said Dad did it to keep them safe, and that he had gone along with it to keep Mom from being hurt.

Second, Ben didn't tell her about all the monsters Dad fought. He told her stories about his adventures, but he never went in depth. Ben said he didn't want Eli to get to scared.

Lastly, no looking for Dad.

Eli didn't now what Dad looked like, there were no pictures around the house. Ben had collected them all and hid them from Mom, but he kept them from Eli too in the process.

It didn't bother Eli though. She just invented what her father looked like from what Ben told her in his stories.

Green eyes, just like Eli's. Short brown hair, not unlike Eli's long brown mane.

She imagined him tall, but not to tall. And muscular, but just enough to have some definition.

Eli dreamed about meeting him, coming up with different scenarios in her head.

She imagined him coming back, realizing he had a daughter. She thought about how he'd respond, over joyed at the fact that he had a child beside Ben, and one that was really his own.

Sometimes Eli imagined leaving home and looking for her father, but that was against the rules.

Besides, her leg wouldn't let her get very far anyway.

Ben, she'd ask when she was younger. What if Dad doesn't like me? And he'd always get the same disgusted look on his face.

Eli, don't say things like that. Dad's awesome, he'll love you!

But Ben, what about my leg? Don't you think... Ben would glare at the thought of she was suggesting.

Elizabeth! Dad won't care about your leg! He'll love you anyways, just like I do.

Usually, Ben cleared up Eli's worries pretty quickly. He only ever needed a few words to make her calm and confident again.

So Eli believed him. And she believed that her father wouldn't treat her any different then he would his son. Kids at school would tease and make fun of her, and Ben would take care of them, stopping it almost before it began. And each time, Eli remind herself that her father loved her anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Eli slammed her locker door shut, finally getting it closed after trying to organize her locker mates trash and books in a way that they wouldn't fall out again. She sighed, leaning her head against the locker door as she gave a silent thanks. Everything had fallen out of the locker when she'd opened it to put her morning class books in it, spilling papers and various unmentionables all over the hall at Eli's feet. Most of passing period had been spent already trying to shove everything back into the space, leaving Eli a minute at the most to run to her next class still loaded with more books then she needed.

She took a second at the door to take a breath and stretch her leg. She probably shouldn't have ran without her brace or crutch, but Eli was not about to break her non-tardy streak.

Opening the door to class as quietly as she could, Eli slipped into the room and sat in her seat just as the bell rang. Mr. Smith walked in the classroom.

Mr. Smith was a vampire. Ben had told Eli so when he had found out he was her History teacher. Eli didn't know how Ben had found out, but she trusted him.

Ben had also told her that Mr. Smith wasn't the bad kind of vampire either. He said that Mr. Smith didn't kill people, and had promised that he wouldn't kill anyone and would try to blend in with people and live a normal life.

Mr. Smith was a nice vampire.

Mr. Smith was also Eli's friend. Inside of school, she was his favorite student. Outside of school, he was her best friend and sanctuary when ever Ben was gone and her mother was drunk or missing.

"Good morning class," Mr. Smith greeted the class in his usual morning routine. He set his ever present cup of coffee down on his class and turned to adress the class.

The rest of history went pretty on part with their daily routine; a few students who hadn't done their homework or studied had talked through the entire period, and Eli was pretty sure one or two students dozed off.

By the time the bell rang, most of the students had already put their things away and the class room was empty within moments.

Eli took her time putting her notebook away, enjoying the peaceful emptyness of the room. She usually went through the school day silent, with her headphones in whenever the teachers allowed them.

On her way out the door, Eli smiled and nodded at Mr. Smith, who smiled and gave her a partial wave before taking a sip of his coffee.

Elizabeth pulled her headphones out of her ears, allowing them to dangle around her neck as she pushed open the door to her little apartment.

Although the three bedroom apartment was a little small for the three member Braeden family, it was a decent apartment for how much her mother and Ben made.

Ben, being eleven years older than Eli, was twenty-eight, but he still lived at home for sake of money and Elizabeth. He worked two part time jobs and spent his free time hunting, like Eli's father did.

Ben brought Eli along on his hunts every now and then only because he didn't want her to be absolutely clueless about the monsters around her. Ben had taught her how to shoot, how to track, how to identify monsters, all the basics of a hunter. However, she was forbidden from going out on her own.

"Ben?" Eli called out, dropping her backpack just inside the door and haphazardly tossing her keys into the key bowl on the little table in the livingroom. "Mom"?

Eli wasn't often the only one in the house. There was always either her mother or her brother doing something. Eli was pretty sure Ben had set up his work hours the way he did so that she wouldn't be home alone often.

"Is anyone home?" Eli checked her mother's room, and then knocked on her brothers door, but no one answered. No one was home, Eli was sure of it. But why? Where had they gone?

Elizabeth finally gave up her search, choosing instead to grab a bag of trail mix from the kitchen cupboard and retreating to her room.

She had barely sat down on her bed when her phone rang. Surprised, Eli glanced at the caller ID before answering. It was Mr. Smith, which was odd since Eli was pretty sure the old school vampire didn't even own a phone.

"Yeah?" Eli took a handful of trail mix while she waited for Mr. Smith to answer. "Hello?" She could hear breathing on the other line, but other than that no one spoke up. "Mr. Smith?"

"Elizabeth!" She jumped at the sudden outburst from the other side of the call. "Elizabeth, where are you?!" Eli raised an eyebrow.

"At home, why?" She popped another handful of trail mix.

" Don't leave! Don't do anything, just stay there until I come and get you." This conversation was getting more and more confusing by the second.

"Why am I not going anywhere, what's going on?" Eli stood up, getting worried as her imagination started to run wild.

There was silence on the other end for what felt like hours.

"Mr. Smith, what's going on?!" Eli yelled into the phone. There was another pause, and Eli almost gave up on the phone call, but suddenly Mr. Smiths voice came out almost in a whisper and said something that chilled Eli's blood.

"Your mother and brother are missing."


	3. Chapter 3

Eli sat on her brother's bed, flipping through his journal.

Ben kept extensive records on the monsters he haunted and the places he went. After Mr. Smith had hung of the phone, Eli had ran straight to her brother's room to search for his journal. She'd been surprised when it was under his bed where he usually kept it. If he had gone on a hunt, he would have taken it with him.

Mr. Smith hadn't explained anything before he hung up, but Eli was able to infer at least that he was in a hurry. He'd sounded out of breath, as if either he was running from something or after something.

The last thing in Ben's journal was the hunt they had gone on together almost a month ago. It had been easy enough, just a werewolf loose a few towns over that Ben had deemed harmless enough for Eli to come along.

The last time Eli had seen Ben had been this morning, when he had kissed her goodbye for school. He hadn't seemed off, it had just been a routine morning.

Eli's mother, on the other hand, had left sometime last night, and Eli hadn't seen her since she left.

Maybe Ben found out something had gone after their mother and gone after it?

Eli didn't hear the door open, so when Mr. Smith burst into Ben's room to find her sitting on the bed deep in thought, she actually fell off the bed in a desperate attempt to retrieve Ben's knife off the nightstand.

Mr. Smith sighed deeply when he saw her, leaning his elbows on his knees while Eli attempted to regain what little of her dignity she had left, shaking the slight pain out of her leg.

"Elizabeth, you're alright," He huffed in his thick accent.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm safe. Was I in danger?" She carefully closed Ben's journal and leaned against the bed, not letting Mr. Smith answer before she launched her next string of questions. "Where is my brother? And my mother, I haven't seen her since last night. How do you know they're missing?"

Benny held up his hand, silencing her while he straightened his posture and rubbed at his back. "I'm getting too old for this," He mumbled before approaching Eli. He sat down on the bed next to her and took a deep breath.

"Eli, your brother called me this afternoon." Elizabeth stood up, almost tripping over her feet and cringing again the pain in her leg in her rush to stand.

"What did he say? Where is he, is he alright? Where's my mother?" She yelled at Mr. Smith, temporarily forgetting her manners in her concern for her family.

Mr. Smith covered his ears and shot her a look. "Calm down, I was going to tell you if you'd just let me get a word in." Eli bowed her head and sat back down. Mr. Smith nodded his appreciation before resuming his explanation.

"He didn't say much, he simply told me I had to get you out of here." Eli opened her mouth, but shut it quickly after a look from Mr. Smith silenced her. "He directed me to some old friends," He stood up and made his way to Ben's closet, tossing Eli Ben's old hunting backpack.

"We have to go to Kansas."

Eli tossed the now filled, old brown canvas bag into the trunk of Mr. Smith's old red truck. She was still confused as to why Mr. Smith was taking her to Kansas, but she trusted her brother and Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith hadn't packed his own bag yet, so Eli sat in the truck while he ran inside to pack his own bag. She sat in the passenger seat with her elbow leaning against the door. She had her own hunting bag in her lap, in which she kept Ben's journal, her sketchbook, and her personal entertainment and their corresponding chargers.

It only took fifteen minutes or so before Mr. Smith emerged from his apartment, locking the door behind him before tossing his bag into the backseat and starting the truck.

He turned to study Eli's face for a moment before pulling out of the lot.

"We'll find your brother Eli. He's a tough guy, takes after your dad."

Eli nodded curtly before leaning her head on her window, watching the scenery slowly turn from the city streets to the wide open space of the highway deserts.


	4. Chapter 4

Eli woke up around three in the morning, when the moon still lit up the backroad Mr. Smith had taken. There weren't any lights along this road, so the moon and Mr. Smith's truck headlights were the only things lighting up the poorly paved road.

Eli raised her head bit to look out the window at the dark landscape as fields and trees rushed by. Mr. Smith had told her the trip would take about eleven hours of driving, not counting for any stops they made or other obstacles they ran into.

"Mr. Smith?" Eli turned her head and sat up, not feeling tired anymore after her five or so hour nap. "Mr. Smith?" She repeated, cringing when her teacher snapped out of whatever daze he'd been stuck in.

"Yeah Eli?" He shook his head again, reaching for his energy drink sitting in the middle console. Eli took her own and grabbed a bag of chips from the stash there as well.

"I was just wondering," Eli took a sip of her drink and opened her bag of chips. "Why exactly are we going to Kansas?" Eli sank back into the black leather seat and propped her feet up on the dashboard. Well, foot; she couldn't quite get her left leg up after having it sit still for the whole drive. She winced as she stretched it as much as possible before grabbing her ankle with both hands and heaving it up next to her right foot.

Mr. Smith watched her, not even needing to hide a look of pity. One of the reasons Eli liked Mr. Smith so much was because he didn't ever treat her differently because of her leg, and he never gave her that sympathy glance like others did. In more ways than one, Mr. Smith was a lot like Eli's brother, Ben.

"I told you already," He cleared his throat and returned his attention to the road. "Ben told me to get you to some of our friend there. He thinks it's the only place you'll be safe."

Eli pinched her face and looked forward as well. Ben was a decent hunter, he never ran from a challenge. What could possibly be so bad that Ben felt Eli had to go somewhere else? Her brother never liked Eli being out of reach, especially if he felt there was a threat nearby.

Eli sighed and flopped her head back into the headrest and turned to watch the scenery go past her window, trying to ignore the concern for her brother, and for her mother.

oOo

"Eli, wake up kiddo," Mr. Smith flicked her shoulder, and for a second after opening her eyes, Eli panicked. She sat up shakily and quickly, almost knocking her head against the windshield before losing her balance.

Mr. Smith chuckled at her confused state before she finally got a hold on her bearings. "I'm going to run inside, do you want anything?" He threw open his door and dropped out, pausing for her answer at the opening. He raised his eyebrow at her silence.

"I-I'm o-o-okay. I-I don't n-need anyth-thing," she stuttered, rubbing at her eyes and stretching a bit. Mr. Smith nodded curtly before closing his door.

"I'll be back in a minute," Eli watched him leave, stretching her arms behind her back. She turned her attention to her leg, wincing as she manually pulled it off of the dashboard.

The sun was just up, a quick glance at her phone told Eli that it was about five am. Theoretically, they should be almost there if not there already. _We're definitely in Kansas though_ , Eli noticed the sign above the gas station Mr. Smith had stopped at.

Eli adjusted her position in her seat so she could see Mr. Smith inside the store. He was standing at the counter, waiting for the teenager at the register to take his money. Eli's attention, however, was drawn to the man watching Mr. Smith from a few rows away. _He looks fricken creepy,_ Eli noticed. The men was covered in black, inky tattoos that followed some secret pattern Eli wasn't aware of, and as far as Eli could see, they covered his whole body.

Eli turned her attention back to Mr. Smith, making eye contact. Mr. Smith held his finger up to his lips, glancing back at the man Eli had noticed. Eli raised her eyebrow as more men suddenly appeared, all of them watching Mr. Smith. The man himself seemed aware of their presence, and Eli noticed him reaching for his shotgun.

 _Oh Shi-_ Eli pressed herself back into her seat when Mr. Smith suddenly spun around and whipped out his shotgun, shooting the first man right through his skull. Eli froze, unable to turn away as the man fell to the ground, leaving a gory mess behind him. Before she could recover, Mr. Smith fired off three more shots, dropping more of the strangers.

Eli hah been on a few hunts with her brother, and she was no stranger to death. But Ben had always been careful about making her close her eyes if there was going to be a bloody killing. She'd never seen a man literally lose his head, nor the mess of brain and blood that was left behind.

She was still lost in herself when Mr. Smith ran into the truck and threw open the door. "Eli! Snap out of it!" He yelled as he pulled himself into the truck, starting it and closing his door on a tattooed hand simultaneously.

Eli shook her head, shrieking when one of the men collided with her door and slammed into her window. He glared at her, smiling evilly before Mr. Smith slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the truck took off.

"What the heck were they?!" Eli yelled, slightly out of breath. She leaned forward, bracing her arms against the dashboard while she tried to calm herself down. She glanced at the rear view mirror at the men quickly growing smaller as they drove away.

Mr. Smith cleared his throat, and Eli noticed that he too was slightly out of breath. "I think they're the monsters that took your mother." He coughed and Eli fumbled for one of the bottles of water in the cooler at her feet. Finally getting the thing opened, she shakily handed it to Mr. Smith who took it gratefully. He tipped to her as if making a toast before taking a gulp and downing half the bottle.

When he finished, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and let the truck slow down a bit closer to the speed limit. "They're called Djinn. I think they're what your brother went after." He glanced at Eli. "We need to get to our friend's place. These things are dangerous, and I don't exactly have everything I need to take down as many as it looks like are after yo-us."

Mr. Smith returned his attention to the road, and Eli sat back in her seat. She had more questions, but it was obvious that now was not the time to ask them.

She winced as she attempted to re-situate herself into a more comfortable position. Her leg was acting up, already severely worse than it had been before they left Indiana. She groaned as she realized that, in her hurry to pack, she had completely forgotten to grab her bottle of pain pills. She hadn't needed them for a while, Ben was teaching her to a bit more independent from them. But the level of agony shooting up her leg now made her wish she had them on hand anyway.

Mr. Smith turned his head toward her, a look of concern on his face as she gritted her teeth together. Just as he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, Eli watched a semi-truck slam into the driver's side of Mr. Smith's.


End file.
